Discovery Communications

Peter Gros

posted: 05/15/12

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Peter Gros

DCI |

Television

As special advisor of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom on Animal Planet, Peter Gros provides the link between the original series, where he served as co-host, and the new specials. Gros currently is working with the network and the executive producers of each Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom special to ensure the shows meet quality standards for family viewing and deliver relevant conservation messages. This ensures that the new specials remain true to the heritage of the beloved original series. Gros was also featured in the Cheetah: Race Against Time Wild Kingdom special in 2005.

The original Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom series — a program honored with 41 major awards, including four Emmy® Awards and an endorsement by the National PTA for television programming recommended for family viewing — was one of the best known and longest-running series on nature and the animal world.

Gros is a frequent guest on Live with Regis and Kelly and the CBS Early Show. In addition, he has appeared on numerous talk shows, including the Tonight Show.

Active Conservationist

On behalf of Mutual of Omaha, Peter Gros is involved intimately in a nationwide conservation education program conducted at the local community level. Gros' research expeditions have taken him to Lake Baikal in Siberia to explore the wonders of the world's largest, oldest and deepest lake and to the Amazon Basin, where he led an expedition of 39 six-graders from Zeeland, Michigan, to study the Peruvian rain forest. He also has studied the effects of ecotourism on wildlife in Venezuela, Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico and the Galapagos Islands.

In addition, Gros has served as the U.S. representative on the Citizen Ambassador Program's research study of tigers and rhinos in the Chitwan National Forest in Nepal. In his travels throughout the world, Gros and his animal friends help teach about the importance of caring for the world around us.

Nationally Recognized Authority

Peter Gros has nearly 30 years of field experience with captive wildlife. In his former position as Director of Land Animals and vice president at Marine World/Africa USA, he established breeding programs for 377 endangered animals. He also developed a rehabilitation program for birds of prey, as well as the largest captive breeding colony of ostriches in the United States. He is a licensed Exhibition & Animal Educator for the U.S.D.A. and an active member of the American Zoo and Aquariums Association and Zoological Association of America. Gros is also on the Board of Directors of the Suisun Marsh Natural History Association.

He is a frequent lecturer on conservation and preservation at universities, zoos and nature and science centers around the nation. Gros currently serves as president of the Green Valley Center for Wildlife Education. "We need to continue to deliver a powerful message about how each of us can make a daily difference in preserving our natural world," Gros says. "It is possible to use our natural resources in a sustainable manner. We simply need to educate our nation's youth about the importance of wildlife conservation."